1. Field
An air conditioner and a method for operating an air conditioner are disclosed herein.
2. Background
An air conditioner is an apparatus that discharges cool air or hot air into a room to adjust a room temperature and to purify air in the room, thereby providing a more comfortable room environment for people. In general, the air conditioner may include an indoor unit or device, which may include a heat exchanger, installed in a room, and an outdoor unit or device, which may include a compressor and a heat exchanger, to supply refrigerant to the indoor unit.
The air conditioner may be controlled in a state in which the indoor unit including the heat exchanger, and the outdoor unit including the compressor and the heat exchanger are separated from each other. The air conditioner may be operated by controlling power supplied to the compressor or the heat exchanger. In addition, the air conditioner may include one outdoor unit or device and at least one indoor unit or device connected to the outdoor unit. The outdoor unit or device may supply refrigerant to the indoor unit according an operation state requested by a user, such that the air conditioner may be operated in a cooling mode or in a heating mode.
The air conditioner may perform a cooling operation or a heating operation according to a flow of refrigerant. The cooling operation of the air conditioner may be performed as follows. A high-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant may be supplied to the indoor unit from the compressor of the outdoor unit via the heat exchanger of the outdoor unit. The refrigerant may be expanded by the heat exchanger of the outdoor unit with a result that the refrigerant is evaporated, and therefore, a temperature of surrounding air may be lowered. As an indoor unit fan may be rotated, cool air may be discharged into the room. On the other hand, the heating operation of the air conditioner may be performed as follows. A high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant may be supplied to the indoor unit from the compressor of the outdoor unit. The high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant may be liquefied by the heat exchanger of the indoor unit with a result that air is heated. As the indoor unit fan may be rotated, the heated air may be discharged into the room.
The air conditioner may be configured to have a structure in which data may be transmitted and received between air conditioner units. In general, the air conditioner may be configured such that the air conditioner units may transmit data to each other based on a predetermined cycle and receive from each other response signals corresponding to the transmitted data.
In general, the air conditioner may be configured such that a remote controller of the air conditioner may receive, store, and display data. In a case in which the air conditioner does not includes such a remote controller, however, it is necessary to provide a method for effectively storing data.